Small Time Crooks
A loser of a crook and his wife strike it rich when a botched bank job's cover business becomes a spectacular success.
Working with a respectable budget of $25.0M, the film achieved a modest success with $29.9M in global revenue (+20% profit margin).
1 win & 4 nominations
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Small Time Crooks (2000) showcases carefully calibrated narrative design, characteristic of Woody Allen's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 34 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.3, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Characters
Cast & narrative archetypes
Ray Winkler
Frenchy Winkler
David
May Sloane
Denny Doyle
Tommy
Benny
Main Cast & Characters
Ray Winkler
Played by Woody Allen
An ex-con dishwasher who schemes to rob a bank but accidentally builds a cookie empire instead.
Frenchy Winkler
Played by Tracey Ullman
Ray's working-class wife who becomes the unlikely mastermind behind their successful cookie business.
David
Played by Hugh Grant
A sophisticated art dealer who becomes Frenchy's tutor in culture and refinement, creating romantic tension.
May Sloane
Played by Elaine May
Frenchy's sharp-tongued, cynical cousin who joins the cookie operation and provides comic relief.
Denny Doyle
Played by Michael Rapaport
A dim-witted member of Ray's crew who helps with the botched bank heist plan.
Tommy
Played by Tony Darrow
An explosives expert in Ray's crew who is more enthusiastic than competent.
Benny
Played by Jon Lovitz
A getaway driver and member of Ray's incompetent crew of would-be bank robbers.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Ray and Frenchy Wzorakowski live in a cramped New York apartment, struggling financially. Ray works as a dishwasher and dreams of pulling off one big score, while Frenchy works as a manicurist, content with their simple but limited life.. The analysis reveals that this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 12 minutes when Ray unveils his "foolproof" plan: rob a bank by renting the storefront next door and tunneling through the wall. The heist would be disguised by opening a legitimate cookie shop as a front operation.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 24 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 26% of the runtime. This illustrates the protagonist's commitment to The cookie shop opens for business. Ray and his crew begin tunneling toward the bank vault while Frenchy serves her homemade cookies to customers upstairs. This marks their full commitment to the elaborate scheme., moving from reaction to action.
At 48 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 51% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Of particular interest, this crucial beat At the peak of their wealth and success, Frenchy becomes obsessed with joining high society and befriends David, a sophisticated art dealer who offers to "educate" her. Ray feels left behind and insecure in this new world. False victory: they have money but are growing apart., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 71 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Frenchy discovers they're broke—David has embezzled their fortune through fraudulent art deals and investments. The mansion, the lifestyle, everything is gone. Ray says, "I told you so," and their marriage appears to be over as Frenchy realizes she's been conned and has lost both her money and her husband's respect., indicates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 76 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 81% of the runtime. Frenchy realizes that her real wealth was never money or culture—it was Ray and their genuine connection. She rejects the pretentious world she tried to join. Ray chooses to forgive and reconcile rather than hold onto resentment. They both understand what truly matters., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Small Time Crooks's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs proven narrative structure principles that track dramatic progression. By mapping Small Time Crooks against these established plot points, we can identify how Woody Allen utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Small Time Crooks within the comedy genre.
Woody Allen's Structural Approach
Among the 42 Woody Allen films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 7.0, demonstrating varied approaches to story architecture. Small Time Crooks represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Woody Allen filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional comedy films include The Bad Guys, Ella Enchanted and The Evening Star. For more Woody Allen analyses, see Everyone Says I Love You, Celebrity and Interiors.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Ray and Frenchy Wzorakowski live in a cramped New York apartment, struggling financially. Ray works as a dishwasher and dreams of pulling off one big score, while Frenchy works as a manicurist, content with their simple but limited life.
Theme
Frenchy's customer at the salon remarks, "Money doesn't buy happiness, but it buys everything else." This encapsulates the film's central theme about wealth, class, and what truly matters in life.
Worldbuilding
Establishing Ray and Frenchy's working-class world: their tiny apartment, dead-end jobs, and modest social circle. Ray is introduced as a perpetual schemer with failed criminal aspirations, while Frenchy is practical and risk-averse. We meet their friends Benny, Denny, and Tommy, all low-level hustlers.
Disruption
Ray unveils his "foolproof" plan: rob a bank by renting the storefront next door and tunneling through the wall. The heist would be disguised by opening a legitimate cookie shop as a front operation.
Resistance
Frenchy resists the crazy plan, but Ray recruits his incompetent crew. They rent the shop space and begin preparations. Frenchy reluctantly agrees to run the cookie shop front, making cookies from her mother's recipe to maintain appearances while the men dig the tunnel in the basement.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
The cookie shop opens for business. Ray and his crew begin tunneling toward the bank vault while Frenchy serves her homemade cookies to customers upstairs. This marks their full commitment to the elaborate scheme.
Mirror World
Customers line up around the block for Frenchy's cookies. The "cover business" becomes unexpectedly successful, introducing a new world of legitimate entrepreneurship that contrasts with Ray's criminal ambitions. This success represents the thematic alternative to crime.
Premise
The ironic fun of the premise: while Ray and his crew bungle the tunnel operation, Frenchy's cookies become a sensation. The business explodes into a franchise empire, making them millionaires legitimately. They move into a mansion, hire staff, and enter high society—everything Ray wanted, but through Frenchy's success, not his heist.
Midpoint
At the peak of their wealth and success, Frenchy becomes obsessed with joining high society and befriends David, a sophisticated art dealer who offers to "educate" her. Ray feels left behind and insecure in this new world. False victory: they have money but are growing apart.
Opposition
Frenchy becomes increasingly absorbed in culture, art, and sophistication under David's tutelage, spending lavishly. Ray feels inadequate and excluded from her new interests. Their marriage strains as they inhabit different worlds. Meanwhile, David manipulates Frenchy, and their financial situation becomes precarious due to her spending and poor investments.
Collapse
Frenchy discovers they're broke—David has embezzled their fortune through fraudulent art deals and investments. The mansion, the lifestyle, everything is gone. Ray says, "I told you so," and their marriage appears to be over as Frenchy realizes she's been conned and has lost both her money and her husband's respect.
Crisis
Frenchy hits rock bottom emotionally, realizing her pursuit of sophistication and class was hollow. She reflects on what she's lost: not just money, but Ray and their simple authentic life. Ray, despite being right about David, also processes his own inadequacies and what he truly values.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Frenchy realizes that her real wealth was never money or culture—it was Ray and their genuine connection. She rejects the pretentious world she tried to join. Ray chooses to forgive and reconcile rather than hold onto resentment. They both understand what truly matters.
Synthesis
Ray and Frenchy reunite and start over together, returning to their working-class roots. They open a simple cookie shop again, this time without pretense. David faces consequences for his fraud. The couple rebuilds their life based on authenticity rather than status or wealth.
Transformation
Ray and Frenchy work together in their modest new cookie shop, genuinely happy. They're back where they started financially, but transformed: Frenchy has abandoned her class aspirations, Ray has given up criminal schemes, and they've chosen love and authenticity over wealth and status. The final image mirrors the opening but shows growth.